Longing for Another World
It’s possible to live with legitimate, godly desires that are never fulfilled in your lifetime. Pain, disappointment, heartache and disillusionment can expose these restless longings. Unmet desires remind us that we’re living in one world but longing for another. God has placed eternity in our hearts. Those of us who have been united with Christ will spend forever with Him in a joy-filled paradise. And every experience of hardship now can remind us that we’re falling up toward another world.
Discussion Questions
How do pain, disappointment, heartache and disillusionment expose our unmet desires for a better life? How do you make sense out of the hardship you face in your life?
Read Ecclesiastes 3:11. Where does your longing for life after this life come from? What could pain, disappointment, heartache and disillusionment reveal about your personal longings for another world in God’s presence?
It seems important that we know about eternity since we’ll be there a long time (1 Thessalonians 4:13). Based on God’s word, what happens to people when they die? (make a list of eternal events with a description of the environment where people will exist)
What do we learn about the comparison between suffering and future glory as described in Romans 8:18?
No one will spend eternity in heaven. Instead we’ll populate a new earth. Read Revelation 21:1-3 and 2 Peter 3:13. How does this reality of the future change the typical views of heaven and the afterlife? What emotions do you feel as you anticipate eternity?
What might help you have an eager anticipation of life with Jesus forever? What can you do practically that will help you maintain an eternal perspective?
The Invisible Kingdom
Too often, reality for us is represented by what we experience with our five senses. But God works through an invisible kingdom often in invisible ways. He works differently than we might expect. In God’s kingdom, the way up is the way down. When we “Fall Up” we might...
It’s Not All Rainbows and Unicorns
It’s not unusual to have certain expectations about how life should work and what God is obligated to do for us. This formulaic view of life makes perfect sense until the formula no longer works in our favor. We instinctively work to avoid pain at any cost. But what...